En kvalitativ studie om före detta kriminellas upplevelser av stöd och hjälp.
The aim of this study was to examine former criminals? experiences of help and support of importance to leave a criminal life style. The study consists of six interviews with former criminals and earlier studies on the subject. These studies show that relapse in crime are most common among those who are socially excluded from society. They also show that important factors to end a life in criminality are for example a supportive social network. During the analysis, we applied the social support theory on our findings. In this study, social support includes practical support, emotional support and network support. These different kinds of support were of relevance for our data sets. The results of this study show that what can be considered as supportive can differ from person to person. It also shows that there is a big variety of supportive factors when leaving a criminal background. They can be for example; to feel needed and appreciated, to get support to manage an everyday life as well as to have a job and an apartment. To be around people with similar experiences of leaving a criminal life style also seems to have a supportive effect on the human being. A supportive social network appears to be the most prominent factor. If you do not have a supporting network it can also be difficult to obtain the support from the practical and emotional support. This because it often seems to be the people in the supportive social network who provides the person with the different kinds of support.